We have not a government: the Articles of Confederation and the road to the Constitution

Van Cleve (law, history, Seattle Univ. School of Law; A Slaveholder's Union) ably demonstrates that U.S. political and financial difficulties culminated by 1787, after the Revolutionary War's end, in unsustainable and irreparable conditions that caused Americans to fear that the weakened Confederation, nearing collapse, would be subject to anarchy and foreign domination. The author describes in great detail the varied and complicated issues faced by the impotent, insolvent Congress: lack of sovereignty, crippling debt, unfunded military to protect settlers facing threats from Native Americans and European governments, curtailed international trade, sectional divisiveness, local uprisings over debt relief, and high taxes. Van Cleve also convincingly explains how and why contemporary leaders with disparate political philosophies and economic interests, though fearful of a powerful central government, became convinced that the Confederation was in such critical straits that it was necessary to establish the Philadelphia Convention of May 1787 and institute far-reaching compromises to produce a strong central government under the Constitution. In the process, he refutes some historians' conclusions about the period, most significantly that the necessity for reform was perceived, not objective. VERDICT This detailed and well-researched history and analysis will appeal to scholars and serious popular history buffs.-Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Van Cleve (law, history, Seattle Univ. School of Law; A Slaveholder's Union) ably demonstrates that U.S. political and financial difficulties culminated by 1787, after the Revolutionary War's end, in unsustainable and irreparable conditions that caused Americans to fear that the weakened Confederation, nearing collapse, would be subject to anarchy and foreign domination. The author describes in great detail the varied and complicated issues faced by the impotent, insolvent Congress: lack of sovereignty, crippling debt, unfunded military to protect settlers facing threats from Native Americans and European governments, curtailed international trade, sectional divisiveness, local uprisings over debt relief, and high taxes. Van Cleve also convincingly explains how and why contemporary leaders with disparate political philosophies and economic interests, though fearful of a powerful central government, became convinced that the Confederation was in such critical straits that it was necessary to establish the Philadelphia Convention of May 1787 and institute far-reaching compromises to produce a strong central government under the Constitution. In the process, he refutes some historians' conclusions about the period, most significantly that the necessity for reform was perceived, not objective. VERDICT This detailed and well-researched history and analysis will appeal to scholars and serious popular history buffs.—Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY